Grading frame



y 1933? B. FRANKLIN, JR 1,918,842

GRADI-NG FRAME Filed April 30, 1930 ATTORNEYS Patented July 18, 1933 UNITED STATES.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JR., OF DRE SHEB, PENNSYLVANIA GRADING FRAME Application filed April 30,

This invent-ion relates to new and useful improvements in grading machines of the power-operated type and more especially to the mechanisms on such machines suitable for shoulder or slope grading such as may be necessary in road construction. Heretofore, the grading of slopes and shoulders has been accompanied by many practical difficulties before the graded portion complied with the specification. Removal of the excess aggregate from or the even distribution of deposited aggregate over the portion to be graded has been done manually heretofore with the concurrent difficulty of maintaining a constant slope pitch while removing this excess aggregate. Where machines have been tried, difliculty has been encountered in holding the device absolutely true to line and grade. When the machine departed from line and grade, the graded portion would also depart therefrom and that work then had to be redone.

An object of this invention is a grading machine having simple and efiicient means for grading slopes and shoulders and which at the same time and as part of the same operation shall gather and remove such excess aggregate as may have been accumulated during the progress of the grading machine. In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a grading frame, one end of which is movable in a vertical plane. As the grading machine progresses, rotating paddles ,mounted 011 the frame and with their operating surfaces oblique with respect to the aXis of rotation, gather and progress the excess material toward the grading machine where it can be collected by any suitable means. Deflections of the paddle driving 4O shaft are permitted by the use of a universal joint. Just behind the paddles there is a smoothing and clean-up scraper which completes the gathering of any material the paddles may have missed.

A feature of this invention is to provide a grading machine that; by riding a surface absolutely true to line and grade (such as a concrete road surface), the portion acted upon by grading frame will also be absolutely true to line and grade. Further fea- 1930. Serial No. 448,501.

tures of this invention are a grading mechanism which shall be continuous in its operation and which will provide means so that the pitch of the grading mechanism maybe varied at will. Obvious advantagesresulting from the saving'intime and the precision of the result owing to-the use of this mechanism are apparent.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification and drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation with the cleaning scraper omitted.

A grading machine, for use with which the frame is particularly designed, is shown merely in outline here except such parts as are directly involved with this invention. The described machine comprises a power unit, such as a tractor, and the grading frame. The power unit proper, in turn, comprises an engine 10 with its various control appurtenances, a pair of steering wheels 11, and a set of heavier traction wheels 12. Various brackets attached tothe chassis 13 of the tractor are the means whereby the grading frame is affixed to the tractor. v

' Suitable gearing inside of the differential 89 housing 14 provides the means whereby a power take-off 15 is caused to have the most eflicient speed of rotation. 17 is a bevelgear which is suitably fixed to the outer endof the take-off shaft 16. As gear 17 rotates, it drives a complementary bevel gear 18, on shaft 19, which is supported in bearings 20, 21 and 22. Shaft 19 is flexibly connected to paddle shaft 23 of the grading frame by a universal j omt 24. Rotation of paddle shaft23, of course, will move the paddles or blades 25. The universal joint 24 assures positive rotation of the paddles even when shaft 23 lies outside of'a horizontal plane.

The grading frame proper comprises several supporting and bracing members of which, 26, 27, 28 and 29 are the main structural members. 7 A standard 30 has mounted upon it the means whereby desired angular movement of the paddle shaft 23 is obtained.

The various members of the frame are fixed to the chassis 13 substantially as shown in the accompanying drawing.

Shaft 23 carries a series of paddles 25 with their operating faces so disposed as to gather and progress excess material towards the tractor to be removed by any suitable means after the machine moves past. The outer end of shaft 23 is pivotally connected to the lower end of the rod 28 by casting 31. Any movement of the lower end of the rod 28 either up or down will causea corresponding raising or lowering of the far end of shaft 23 owing to the universal connection 24 between shafts l9 and 23. Tie bar 26 will help to prevent anylateral movement of the vertical panel of the grading frame.

The upper end of bar 28 is pivotally connected with a sliding block 32. This block 32 is internally threaded and has channels which are guided bycomplementary tongues integral with standard 30. A hand crank 33 turns a threaded rod 34 which is mounted in the block 32. Hand crank 33 prevents downward displacement of screw 34. 35 is a collar preventing any upward vertical movement of screw 34 so that turning the hand crank 33 in opposite directions will raise and lower the working shaft 23. Thus it will be seen that any desired grading angle of the working paddles may be obtained by a turning of the hand wheel.

In some construction, the grading of shoulders and slopes first entails the widening of a cut, through a bank or mound, upon the.

bottom of which the road is laid. In such cases, it might be desirable to trim the sides of the cut for a short distance up from the outer edge of the shoulder. To provide for such a contingency, screw 34 is made long and rod 28 short enough so that paddle shaft 23 may be raised, at one end, sufficiently to do the desired trimming; in other words, the machine is so designed that, when the upper end of rod 28 is brought up under collar 35, thepaddle shaft 23 will make anangle with the standard 30 suflicientlyacute to perform the work desired. Casting 31, above mentioned, is designed so as to avoid gouging into the bank of the cut as the grading machine progresses.

Where the paddles 25 might pass over some material, a clean-up scraper 36 is provided on the bottom panel of the frame directly behind the working elements. In the arrange ment shown in Fig. 1, the-re are two portions, 36' and 37, of the scraper. These portions overlap so as to leave no gap or notch along the bottom of the scraper, regardless of the angularity of blade 36. Tin the forward course of the machine, this scraper will smooth down any slight irregularities inthe graded surface left by the paddles. After the desired portion is graded, the bottom .panel'of the. grading attachment may be raised out of the way during transportation by hand crank 33.

WVhereas the above-described machine more particularly is intended to run along a surface and have the grading frame overhang the portion to be graded, it will be apparent, or course, that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment above described and that various structural changes may be made by anyone skilled in the art without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grading frame comprising a rotatable shaft pivotally supported at one end for angular adjustment, paddles laterally disposed on said shaft, means to prevent horizontal movement of said shaft about said pivotally supported end, means at the other end of said shaft preventing vertical movement of said shaft about its pivotally supported end, and means co-operating with said last-named means to change the angular position of said shaft to enable it to trim the sides of encroaching banks.

2. A grading frame comprising a rotatable shaft pivotally supported at one end for angular adjustment, paddles laterally disposed on said shaft, means to prevent horizontal movement of said shaft about said pivotally supported end, means at the other end of said shaft preventing vertical movement of'said shaft about its pivotally supported end, means co-operating with said last-named means to change the angular position of said shaft to enable it to trim the sides of encroaching banks, and means adapted to collect any'material passed over by said paddles.

3. A grading frame comprising a able shaft pivotally, supported at one end, paddles laterally disposed along said shaft for the removal of excess material, adapted to grade slopesor shoulders, a rigid member preventing angular horizontal movement is with respect to said pivotally supported end, a tie rod connected to the other end of said rotatable shaft, screw means at the upper end of said tie rod whereby the angular position of said shaft may be positively changed in a substantially vertical plane even to such an extent as to enable the shaft to trim the sides of an encroaching bank when desired.

4. In combination with a vehicle, a gradtatable shaft, means co-operating with said tie rod to change the angular position of the shaft in accordance with the slope specified even to an extent to enable the shaft to trim the sides of encroaching banks when desired.

5. In combination with a vehicle, a grading frame extending laterally of the vehicle and comprising a rotatable shaft pivotally supported at one end and driven through said pivotal connection, paddles laterally disposed on said shaft for removal of excess material as the vehicle advances inits grading operation, means to limit horizontal movement of said shaft, means to vary the vertical angular position of said shaft in accordance with the grade desired even to such an extent as to enable the shaft to trim the sides of encroaching banks, and means and comprising a non-jointed rotatable shaft pivotally supported at one end and driven through said pivotal support, impacting members on said shaft to loosen and remove material on the surface to be graded, tie and strut members substantially in a horizontal plane to hold said shaft perpendicular to the center line of the road, a rigid member substantially in a vertical plane and connected to the outer end of said shaft to maintain its position constant.

8. In combination with a vehicle, a grading frame extending laterally of said vehicle and comprising a non-jointed rotatable shaft pivotally supported at one end and driven through said pivot-a1 support, impacting members on said shaft to loosen and remove material on the surface to be graded, tie and strutmembers substantially in a horizontal plane to hold said shaft perpendicular to the center line of'the road, a rigid member substantially in a vertical plane and connected to the outer end of said shaft to maintain its position constant, and threaded means on said vehicle for raising and lowering one end of said rigid member and thereby said shaft.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JRQ 

